Storm Rai leaves five killed, 10 missing in Vietnam

At least five people were killed and ten others went missing after storm Rai brought flash floods across Vietnam, authorities said Thursday.

Flash floods and heavy rain also injured 26 people and damaged thousands of hectares of rice paddies, the National Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control said in a report released Thursday.

Among the dead were two villagers killed on Wednesday night when landslides collapsed their tents in a forest.

The missing include two workers who were swept away when a hydroelectric dam burst in central Vietnam Tuesday.

Flash floods also caused nearly 100 homes to collapse, with another 1,700 houses submerged and more than 600 otherwise damaged.

Heavy rains left nearly 12,000 hectares of rice paddies submerged.

Storm Rai brought strong winds of up to 80 kilometres per hour when it swept through central Vietnam early Tuesday. It weakened into a tropical depression before moving into southern Laos.

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